Visiting an amusement park is a great way to let go of reality and experience fantasy. Employees of Davison Design & Development spend their working days at a special office complex called Inventionland that has the look of a real amusement park.

George M. Davison, founder of the Pittsburgh-area product design company, created Inventionland to get his employees out of their cubicles and into a place that inspires creativity. From a pirate ship where toys and games are created to other fantastical structures, such as the Thinktank Treehouse for hardware designers, it's a 60,000-square-foot creative wonderland.

The inspiration and energy Inventionland has generated among employees is clear to Davison, 44. "It amazes me," he says. "I see more employees staying later to finish projects than I ever have in my 18 years in business." All that extra effort shows: Since opening the space in October 2006, the company has grown nearly 10 percent.